


And Then I Met You

by freckledbell



Category: Murphamy - Fandom, The 100 (TV), The 100 Series - Kass Morgan
Genre: Alternate Universe, Bellamy Blake & Lexa Friendship, Fluff, Grounder Bellamy Blake, Light Angst, M/M, Mount Weather, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-19
Updated: 2019-10-19
Packaged: 2020-09-22 23:16:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,865
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20330134
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/freckledbell/pseuds/freckledbell
Summary: [ incomplete because i have no faith in myself to write this well enough... im super sorry, fellow murphamies ]murphy came down with the rest of the 100, only to be hung and soon banished from their camp. after two days he is captured by the grounders; where he meets the oddly more vulnerable leader of trikru.————-murphy didn’t really like the grounders. he didn’t like anything about them, actually. they were violent assholes who just looked for excuses to be at war, and he didn’t care for their ways or their lifestyles, either. but as he looked into the brown eyes of a slightly taller man, who had freckles painting his tan cheeks and a gentle smile resting on his soft lips, murphy realized there was one grounder he did like.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> hi! i’m kind of new to writing on this website, i’m still figuring out how it works but im working on it (: the first chapter is maybe a little shorter than most but they’ll get longer. thanks for checking this out ❤️

only two days after being banished from the 100 campsite, murphy finds himself wandering around in the quiet woods, looking for something to eat. he hadn't eaten since before clarke and her stupid fucking groupies had forced him to fend for himself in the empty woods where grounders could potentially kill him at any given second. 

“better off on my own anyways," murphy muttered to himself as he walked through the woods, telling himself he wasn't afraid of whatever was out there. it was going to get cold soon, and he was stuck sleeping on the cold ground with nothing to defend himself. those cowards strung him up in a tree and kicked the stump beneath his feet, forcing him to feel as the oxygen was forced out of his lungs, and he gets kicked out to be alone right before winter. fucking assholes. 

he was starving, and annoyed as hell spending his already miserable days looking for food. eventually he managed to stumble upon a river, crystal water washing over the rocks in the stream— green trees that would soon wither away to be nothing. "a little swim couldn't hurt," murphy told himself, kicking off his socks and shoes and carefully walking over the rocks beneath his feet to sink down into the river, relaxing as the soothing water coated his pale, scarred back. 

it'd been a long time since he felt so content, though it wouldn't last long. he'd been fighting to survive his entire life and these few seconds of peace just might be enough for him to hold himself together long enough to find some damn food. his eyes closed for just a few seconds, allowing himself to be vulnerable in this brief moment, before he sunk underwater and came back up with wet, shaggy hair. he sighed contently and rubbed the water out of his eyes until he heard the small crack of a twig snapping in the distance— breaking the only short moment of peace he'd had since his father died. 

murphy froze, heart beginning to thump in his chest. he stared into the vague distance for any sign of trouble, then he began to back out of the water and onto the rocks, sliding his shoes on. and then— another twig snapped, but it was only a deer heading toward the river, presumably to get a drink. murphy relaxed at that. realizing this may be his only chance for dinner, he began to stand up with the stick he'd carved into a spear, reeling his arm back to make the shot.

but it wasn't his spear that pierced through the deer's lung and left it whimpering on the ground before dying a painful death only a moment after being hit. 

murphy's heart jumped in his chest and immediately, he began to sprint through the woods— his cold clothes sticking to his skin and the wind doing nothing to help him warm up. he looked to the side and saw a grounder, heavy animal coats splaying over his shoulders, running in the distance beside murphy. he tried to run faster and he leaped over log or tree stump blocking his path, but seeing a grounder ahead of him made him stop, and he tripped over some rocks and fell face first into the hard, unforgiving ground. 

❦

"we have to do something, bellamy. these people are a hazard to ours and you know it." indra spat, shoulders angrily hunched over as she glared. 

bellamy sighed and kept his eyes on the knife in his hands, which he'd just sharpened using a rock. it was good work, he thought. "i'm working on it." he said bitterly. 

believe it or not, indra was sort of a close friend of his; one of his most trusted allies. but she was sort of an angry, bitterly impulsive woman, trained to be a warrior and to protect bellamy at all costs, much like many of his people were, including himself. he wasn't very accustomed to their ways; he didn't think violence was always necessary and he certainly didnt take pleasure or pride in it, he was more impulsive and emotional and vulnerable compared to other leaders, who are typically very level headed. he participates in violence to keep up his appearance, otherwise he could be killed by his own people if they believed he was too weak to lead them, and he had to build a barrier with his emotions to ensure his people wouldn't see them. but that was hard for bellamy. he was different; driven by passion and his very big heart— it was a shame so few people got to see it. 

“if we don't act first, god only knows what they'll do to us." 

“until i see a reason to attack, there will be no harming the sky people." bellamy said, lifting his eyes to meet indra's, standing with narrowed eyes and a lifted chin, a habit he'd gotten used to when needing to intimidate someone who challenged him. "got a problem with that?”

indra only glared and quietly groaned, shaking her head in disappointment for bellamy's refusal to be on the same page as her. but she obeyed, because she was loyal to the commander of her people and respected him for making his own decisions and sticking to them, even if she didn't agree. "no. let me know if you change your mind." she spoke through gritted teeth before keeping her eyes low as she left the room.

bellamy let out a sigh once indra left, sitting back down on his small bed, which was made out of wood from the forest and animal skins for blankets. just as he started to enjoy the quiet in his room while slicking his rock over his knife to continue sharpening it, there were a few seemingly patient grounders walking in. bellamy didn't bother lifting his head, just kept his eyes on his knife. "what is it?"

“we've captured a boy from skaikru. found him by the river." tristan said, hoping to get a little praise for his work, but he didn't look all that eager. 

“what?" bellamy lifted his head to meet tristan's eyes before standing up, eyebrows furrowed a little while one of his hands held the knife at his side. "are you trying to start a war?"

“with all due respect, they started the war when they came to our land and set fire to one of our villages."

"we don't know that they did that on purpose, they haven't made any moves since then. use your head. if they wanted a war, we'd win. they'd be stupid to try anything.”

“what would you like us to do with the boy, then?"

bellamy clenched his jaw, staring blankly with slightly narrowed eyes, trying not to make his thoughts readable. there was no harm in using this boy just to get a little information— they could understand why the sky people were here, what their motives were. this was the smart play, now that the move had been made. "let me see him."


	2. Chapter 2

murphy sat shivering in his cage, wrists chained to a wall and blood seeping through the cuts on his face and arms. he already had dry blood on his face from being beaten in the 100 campsite, now it was getting colder outside and nothing was keeping him warm, not even the cold metal keeping him trapped in this cave-like room. 

he winced at the sound of footsteps approaching, instinctively gripping his chains and vaguely tugging on them. he wasn't afraid of much, but the grounders he was afraid of. they played dirty, beat him for no reason, and were surely about to beat and torture him again. he hadn't eaten in three days (other than those berries the morning after he was banished, which ended up making him sick) and he was fucking freezing, now he had some asshole grounders who were likely going to tear him limb from limb. 

he tensed up the moment two grounder men walked into the cave, followed by another man with dark, curly hair. the cave was dimly lit by torches on the surrounding walls, so murphy couldn't get a good look at the man who was coming in behind the two grounders. then the man stepped forward, taking a good unsettling look at murphy before turning to his men.

they were speaking in another language; one murphy didn't recognize or understand. but his best guess was that the asshole with curly hair was probably telling his fellow assholes exactly how to torture and kill him. murphy stared in silence, his eyes glancing between the three men who stood at the cave entrance. 

the two men lowered their heads in obedience after getting an earful, and before he knew it, it was only he and the curly haired man left alone in the cave, but that didn't make murphy any less tense.

❦

bellamy glared at his men as they left, then huffed and turned to look over his shoulder at the somewhat shivering boy who was chained to the wall. this isn't what he wanted, he never told his people to capture anyone— the only command he gave was to kill a few of the newcomers in order to send a message. he didn't say anything about beating a skinny pale boy and bringing him back to camp. this was useful, this would be good for getting information, but he supposed he was just feeling bitter because he didn't take pride in hurting seemingly innocent people. 

the boy on the ground was visibly shaking; maybe from being cold, maybe out of fear. maybe both. bellamy eyed him up and down, taking in the sight of him, and then he turned to face him completely before stepping a little closer, and the boy began to back away even further and shake his head before he got stuck in the corner thanks to the chains not allowing him to go far. 

should he say something? should he speak english? but what if that could later be used against him? he almost wanted to apologize for the harm his men had caused the boy, but he could come off as weak. and that wasn't an option. however... now that they were alone, he didn't have to take the aggressive approach. 

"what the fuck do you want? huh? if you're gonna kill me, just get it over with." the pale boy barked, glaring at bellamy, though still visibly afraid. 

bellamy stood still in his place and made a show of eying the boy up and down again, studying his opponent and noting anything he thought would be useful. he was small and pale— but smaller than he should've been. bellamy wondered how long it'd been since the boy had anything to eat, despite still looking scrappy, like he could defend himself even while being smaller than most. 

bellamy walked closer to murphy in a quicker pace, noting the way the boy tried to back away like there was any more space between him and the wall, before gripping murphy's chains and pulling the boy onto his feet, keeping a tight hold on the chains. “tell me what you know about your people, and this won’t have to get ugly.” 

murphy breathed in shakily and instinctively grabbed onto the grounder's tensed arm, being held rather close to the slightly taller man's chest. he was still shaking a little; weak from hunger and cold from the cooler night breeze that swept into the cave, but he'd stilled a little more from the shock of being pulled to his feet so quickly. but there wasn’t as much aggression or force as he was expecting on the grounder’s part; just a firm tone and a determined look in his eyes. 

bellamy's eyes narrowed at the lack of a response, and he considered his options before deciding to push the boy into the cave wall using his tight grip on the chains. he stood close and pulled out a knife from his pant leg, pressing the tip of his blade into the sensitive skin just below the boy's jawline.

"what the hell do you want!" 

"tell me what you know about your attacks against my people and i won't have to hurt you."

"attacks against your people?" the boy scoffed, "you've been killing mine since the day we got here."

bellamy dug the knife a little harder into murphy's neck, and then the boy started stammering in a quick reply. "okay! okay. what do you wanna know?"

bellamy pulled the knife back in a small show of appreciation, letting the boy know he was willing to talk this over without any harm done. "my people believe yours are starting a war. is it true?" he asked, slightly loosening his grip on the chains to give the boy in front of him a little more space. 

murphy scoffed again, "you've been killing a bunch of teenage delinquents for no reason and we're the ones starting a war?"

"the first day you got here, you trespassed into our territory and last night one of our villages was set on fire."

"listen, i-i don't know anything, okay? they strung me up in a tree and banished me for getting revenge. i haven't seen any of those fuckers in two days, and that’s exactly what i told your little bodyguards.” 

bellamy stared in thought, briefly considering murphy's response until he stepped back and let go of the chains around the boy's wrists. murphy seemed so brave to speak to him like that, even while visibly appearing to be afraid. not that bellamy would admit it, but that was admirable. “what were you doing when we found you?" 

murphy paused, remaining silent for a few seconds in shame. "hunting." 

"for what? us?"

"food. fucking food, okay? i'm... i've barely eaten anything since they banished me." 

bellamy knew that, or at least he could've guessed based on the boy's size. he wasn't just small, he was thin— his shirt fitting looser on him and his ribcage being more noticeably caved in; not that bellamy could really see the boy's torso. he could just tell by the look of him. "i’ll tell you what,” he started in a calmer tone, because truth be told, he didn’t want this boy to starve and he didn’t want to hurt him. he just wanted to protect his people; that’s what he was good at. “tell me what you know about your people and i'll get you something to eat." 

murphy met the grounder's eyes, considering the offer that was given to him. he couldn't betray his own people for food, right? well, why the hell not? they hung him and then abandoned him in the woods; he wouldn't even be here if it weren't for those pieces of shit. "you're just gonna kill me after you get what you want." 

"play by my rules and that won't be necessary." 

murphy's eyes trailed to the ground in thought, then he shook his head. "you're not just gonna let me go."

"i'll let you out of here alive and with food if you give me what i want, because i don’t wanna hurt you. but if you don't, then i can promise you your time spent here will be a hell of a lot worse than death." bellamy didn’t want it to come to that, but he wouldn’t be left with much of a choice. there’s no way the grounders would just allow murphy to walk free, even if he wasn’t their only way of gaining any knowledge. 

murphy blinked and looked at bellamy again, spending the next few seconds in thought before he huffed. "fine. okay? fine. there are 97 of them and they aren't planning any war with you, based on my knowledge up until my banishment.” 

“why were you banished?”

murphy chuckled bitterly and rolled his eyes, scratching his eyebrow with his thumbnail. “they thought i killed someone. i didn’t, but they thought i did.”

“they hurt you?”

murphy shrugged, speaking bitterly as if he were talking to the person who did this to him. “they beat me, kicked me, and then when they were done with that, they hung me for something i didn’t do. it’s not like they even considered the possibility that it could’ve been someone else. it wasn’t until i almost died that the stupid little bitch finally fessed up and admitted to killing wells.”

bellamy didn’t know who wells was, or who ‘the stupid little bitch’ was, but he remembered murphy mentioning that he’d been hung by his own people. “what have you been doing since you left?”

“just looking for something to eat,” murphy said, a tight, sad, bitter little smile on his face as his head hung slightly to the right. “didn’t have any luck until yesterday, when i found a deer that your people killed before they brought me here.” he added in an accusatory tone. 

bellamy’s eyebrows furrowed a little and he looked down for a few seconds as he pieced it together— since he wasn’t actually aware that murphy had been here for a day. he thought his men had came and told him the moment they brought the boy in. apparently not. “wait. you’re saying you’ve already been here for a day?” he looked murphy up and down again, taking another look at the bloody skin on the boy’s arms— the cuts that covered his face— the hole torn in his shirt that made a wound on his chest more visible. “and they did this to you?”

murphy scoffed and slid down the wall, sitting down on the ground and looking up at the commander. he didn’t need to verbally respond; the answer was clear. he already had dried blood and scabs from wounds that were still healing from his own people abusing him— but the wounds he had now were fresh. besides, he managed to wash some of the old blood off his back and arms before he’d been captured. 

bellamy‘s jaw clenched and his eyes lowered as he grew angrier the more he thought about it. he didn’t ask for his people to capture anyone, but he let it slide because in the end it was the smart move. but he was the commander (at least of trikru) and he wasn’t going to be out of the loop when it came to protecting his people. he was betrayed, but this lesson wouldn’t go unlearned. nobody brings in any supposedly innocent people, holds them captive and tortures them for over a day without telling him about it. without another word, bellamy turned around and began storming towards the door— but murphy’s next words stopped him.

“hey, what about the food i was promised?”

bellamy turned to look over his shoulder at murphy, glancing down before nodding with a slight hint of a smirk on his lips. “i’ll bring you whatever you need.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fun fact, i was actually gonna delete this and pretend it never happened until i saw that it already had some kudos, two comments, and someone mentioned it on twitter (even though they did say they’d prefer the commander to be murphy, my apologies). so thank you for the support and i hope youll still like this. oh, and by the way, im pretty much winging this entire thing, i only have a basic idea.


	3. Chapter 3

it was another two hours of sitting in the dimly lit cave by himself until bellamy came back. murphy was curled up with his knees to his chest, sitting against the wall and carving his initials into it using a rock he found on the ground. but his attention was quickly drawn to the entrance of the cave when he heard footsteps approaching, which left him feeling torn between being afraid that it might be a grounder coming to torture him more and being a little hopeful that it could be the commander coming back with food.

fortunately, it was bellamy. he came in with a blanket made of animal skins draped over his shoulder and in his hands he carried what appeared to be cooked deer meat, making murphy's mouth start to water slightly and his eyes widen a bit with hope.

"ready to talk?" the curly haired commander asked in an almost friendly, but not trusting, tone. it was a good thing— bellamy had hoped he wouldn't have to hurt the pale boy in front of him, and thankfully, he wouldn't have to. 

murphy snorted and scooted further from the wall to sit closer to bellamy. "you mean am i ready to rat out the little fuckers who kicked the stump beneath my feet for food? hell yeah."

"good." bellamy started before he sat on the ground in front of murphy and handed the boy the blanket that had been draped on his shoulder, as well as the food he'd carried in, which murphy practically snatched away. "i couldn't carry water since i had the meat, but i'll bring you some after you give me more information about your people." 

murphy was already swallowing his food by the bite, but he chewed more carefully once the commander spoke. he nodded slowly in thought, pursed his lips and took another bite of his meat, and then started to reply without bothering to swallow first. "i already told you they didn't have any war strategies. they think you're the ones who want a war, that's what i thought too."

bellamy nodded vaguely as he took in the small amount of information. "okay. and you said there are 97 of them?"

"unless you've killed more of us, yeah. there were 97 the last time i was there."

"why are you here?"

murphy chuckled, "the council sent 100 of us to the ground to see if the earth was survivable. they didn't give us any details, or an option, but my guess is the people on the ark won't last forever on that hunk of metal. so we're basically their human test subjects."

bellamy narrowed his eyes a little at that, slightly tilting his head back in thought. "the ark. that's where you lived in the sky?"

"yup. home sweet home." murphy replied sarcastically. he finished the meat bellamy had brought him, then he realized bellamy had gone silent for about a minute. he figured now was a good time to see what exactly was going to happen to him after he gave bellamy all the information he wanted. "so, youre not gonna starve me out again, are you?" 

bellamy was looking at the ground in thought until murphy spoke up again. he shook his head vaguely in response. "no, that's not gonna happen. i'll make sure to bring you something. trust me." 

murphy didn't trust him. he was kind of neutral, though. bellamy hadn't really given him a reason not to trust him other than bringing him here in the first place, but the man had gotten him food and blankets, so it's not like bellamy was the worst out of his experiences with grounders. or anyone, for that matter. "how long am i gonna be here?"

"i don't know yet. you'll be taken care of as long as nothing changes, but i don't think i can just let you go. not yet." murphy said something then— something bellamy wasn't actually listening to. he was focused on the wounds and blood all over murphy's body. it didn't sit right with him. murphy was compliant, giving him all the information he asked for. there was no reason for the boy to be covered in wounds that would soon turn into scars. "are you in pain?" bellamy asked, eyes still wandering over murphy's cuts and bruises. 

murphy watched as bellamy's eyes roamed over him— his face, his neck, his arms, his chest, everywhere. like he was deep in thought about something that murphy wasn't aware of, but regardless, the question seemed random. "i've been better." he said with a slight and sarcastic smirk. "why? sympathy for the demon?"

that caught bellamy's attention, his eyes finally meeting murphy's again. he took a breath before standing to his feet and placing a hand loosely on his hip. "i'm not convinced you are one. but there's time for you to change my mind." no, he wasn't entirely convinced murphy was an enemy. the sky people—sure— but not necessarily murphy in particular. that could easily change, though, so bellamy didn't have any good expectations. "i have something that can help, but it'll still take awhile for you to heal. i'll be right back." 

and then he was gone. murphy tilted his head back against the wall behind him, letting out a sigh. he was drained and exhausted, but it's not like the dirt beneath him was very comfortable. still, he'd get some sleep. he could probably sleep on anything. his eyes closed and after just a couple minutes, he was nearly asleep. and then he heard the footsteps again and that made him open his eyes, and bellamy stood above him. 

"tired?" bellamy asked, bending at the knee to be eye-level with the boy in front of him. 

"you know, you're not as scary as your little friends. they torture me, and you're just cleaning up after their mess. why?" murphy watched as bellamy was looking down at the small wooden bowl filled with some grey mooshy-looking crap. 

"you've given me everything i've asked for. i have no reason to let you suffer unless you give me one. believe me, you wouldn't be in any better shape if you didn't agree to tell me the information i needed." that's when bellamy looked up, meeting murphy's eyes with his own as his fingers were covered in the medicine he'd spoken of. "i don't wanna hurt you. but i would have, if i needed to." 

murphy held still as bellamy lifted his fingers to his arm, covering certain patches of the sensitive skin with the grey colored cream. he kept his eyes on the dark-haired commander, even with the man being focused on the cuts on his arm. the torches in the small cave flickered, better revealing bellamy's tan cheeks and sharp jawline. if the room were any brighter, murphy might've guessed that the man had some freckles lining his features. 

after he was finished with murphy's arm, bellamy dipped his fingers back into the small bowl in his free hand and then brought his fingers up to murphy's jawline, where he carefully applied the cream. murphy tilted his head just enough for bellamy to have a little more access to his wounds. 

and then bellamy's fingers were spreading the supposed medicine on murphy's cheek. murphy wasn't looking anymore; instead his eyes landed on the ground as he sat still and waited for this to be done with. he wasn't sure when he was allowed to leave, but it's not like he had anywhere to go. he didn't have a home. maybe he could find a secluded area and make it his own— a cave somewhere, at least until he could build some sort of foundation to live in. yet again he found himself being disappointed. he had to live the rest of his life on his own with nobody by his side and there wasn't anything he could do about it. a lonely life in a cave... his worst nightmare come true. the realization brought faint tears to his eyes, but he just sniffed and avoided them, choosing to try to think about something else.

"hey."

bellamy's voice caught his attention and took him away from his thoughts, if only for the moment. "i don't want your pity." 

bellamy wasn't sure why he said anything at all. it's not that he was trying to be some sentimental hero, but it was clear that murphy was upset, and bellamy supposed he'd say something—anything—just to distract him. its not like he could ask what was wrong; he already knew. why wouldn't murphy being upset? he was falsely accused, hung, beaten, abandoned, and then kidnapped by people who tortured him. that's just what bellamy knows of as of recent events, not including anything else the boy might have been through. "i'm not pitying you."

murphy looked at him then for a moment, then he took a deep breath and sighed it out. he didn't say anything in return, but luckily he started thinking about something else, though not very deep in thought. the calloused skin that was tracing over certain areas of his cheek was bellamy's; he noticed the tanner man had rough hands, but an oddly gentle touch. his skin didn't hurt where bellamy applied the medicine. "can you do anything about this?" murphy asked with a hint of a sarcastic smirk, holding up both of his wrists that were still chained together; revealing his hands where his fingernails had been ripped out. 

bellamy pulled his own hand back to get a closer look at murphy's— which he could see were bleeding at the nail-beds. he used one hand to carefully reach out and grab ahold of a few of murphy's fingers, taking a closer look at the injuries. he sighed. "sorry. i don't think so. this cream isn't gonna do anything for that. how bad are they?"

"they definitely don't feel good, i can tell you that much."

bellamy looked up at murphy with his head still being tilted down a bit from when he studied the injuries. he sighed to himself and looked back down at murphy's fingernails, as if he were trying to come up with something. all the while, murphy was watching him in curiosity as to why the hell the grounder was doing all of this. feeding him, sure, that made sense. bringing him a blanket, trying to heal his wounds, and being extraordinarily gentle and careful while doing so? that was weird. at least to murphy, it was. but bellamy claimed to just be doing this because he gave him information, and murphy wasn't bringing it up again.

eventually, though, murphy pulled his hand away from bellamy's touch and looked at him, seeing a slightly suspicious look on the older man's face. murphy decided he was done with the weird soft touching thing. "it's fine. it doesn't hurt," 

bellamy's eyes narrowed a little out of slight suspicion, but he dropped it with a slow nod and pulled his hands back. "like i said, this should just help with pain," his eyes fell to sweep over murphy's damaged skin again as he spoke his next words, "but i don't think you'll heal any faster."

murphy nodded slowly in response, not really caring for the doctor bit anymore. he appreciated the help, but it was starting to confuse him. it definitely wasn't something he was used to, and while murphy wasn't thinking of that as a possible reason for him to feel strange about being cared for like this, it was the main reason he felt out of place. 

"if you have anything else you think i should know, now's a good time."

"nothing comes to mind. if i think of anything else, you'll be the first to know." murphy sat back against the wall, tucking his knees to his chest and resting his chained wrists in his lap. 

bellamy took that as his cue to leave. murphy didn't have anything else to say and he couldn't be released yet, so bellamy stood to his feet and turned to leave. 

murphy only watched in silence as bellamy left, but once the coast was clear, he leaned his head back against the wall behind him and sighed before closing his eyes. he was screwed. god only knew how long he'd be stuck in this damn cave, chained to a wall and probed for answers, potentially being tortured again. if he even got out of here alive, he'd have nowhere to go. he was afraid and not to mention it was only getting colder outside; if he'd been a little more awake, he would've noticed the wind had picked up and little drops of rain were hitting the ground outside the cave.

he was fully asleep within fifteen minutes, though he did jolt awake at one point when he felt himself falling over. in his half-asleep daze, he huffed and just rolled onto his side, pulling the blanket bellamy had brought him over his shoulders to keep warm. and then he was sound asleep, occasionally shifting in attempts to get more comfortable on the hard ground beneath him.

*

"you used our resources on that boy?" indra practically spat, clearly trying to keep her cool but failing tremendously. 

bellamy found himself in these situations a lot with indra. she got mad a lot and she had a bit of a temper, making it clear when she strongly disagreed with something, but she tried to stay calm anyways for the sake of respecting him. "yes, i did." bellamy replied simply, though his jaw was a little tight. 

"do i need to explain to you why that was so thoughtless?"

"excuse me?" he shot back with a cocked eyebrow and slightly parted lips, eyes narrowing a bit. 

indra took a breath and her jaw clenched, but then she visibly relaxed. "my apologies. i was out of line. i just think wasting our resources, that our people work for, wasn't smart, bellamy."

bellamy let out a quiet sigh and pulled the blankets back on his bed to make room for him to sit. "he's given us everything we asked for. willingly, in exchange for food. we have no reason to let him suffer. sometimes the easier approach is the better one." 

"how is this better?" he heard indra ask through gritted teeth behind him. 

"i need to explain that to you?"  
when indra didn't respond, bellamy stopped moving his blankets and turned to face her. "we tried hurting him and that didn't work. i offered him food in exchange for information and he answered every question i asked." he stepped closer to indra and stared down at her, "pay attention to your enemies. he hadn't eaten anything, he was practically starving. but once i offered something to eat he was willing to spill his guts about the sky people. apparently they hung him for something he says he didn't do... i guess he just needed a real reason to help us."

"that still doesn't excuse using our medicine to treat him."

"doesn't it?" bellamy scoffed, shaking his head before waving his head dismissively. "you can leave. and don't question me." 

indra sighed heavily through her nostrils before she nodded once in obedience and headed towards the door. she opened it, but stopped in place, a warning in her eyes. "you pity him." she started, "...caring isn't always a bad thing. but i worry your big heart might get you killed some day, bellamy." 

his jaw ticked in a subtle show of nervousness, but it was only brief, despite there still be a few seconds of silence before his response. "don't worry, then." 

and with that, indra left. he knew she was a bitter, spiteful woman, but she cared about him. bellamy knew that; its why she could be so intense sometimes, other than her hatred and distrust for skaikru. they had their arguments and disagreements, but she was one of the very few who'd gotten close to him and he knew that part of the reason she was so persistent with him was because she was looking out for him.

bellamy appreciated her greatly, but he didn't need to be looked out for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oooh. foreshadowing, maybe?  
so i know murphy didn’t say anything about the skaikru camp until after three days of being tortured, not one. but i have reason to believe murphy held on so long because of bellamy, and in this fic bellamy obviously wasn’t there when murphy was hung, so. i just kinda went with this, but sorry if you dont like it. anyways, the next part is longer and i think you guys will like it. thanks for reading!!


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